The Czar Peterhuisje is one of the oldest wooden houses in the Netherlands and the second oldest museum (after the Teylers Museum in Haarlem). Russian Tsar Peter the Great stayed in this now world-famous cottage in 1697.
Tsar Peter the Great spent eight days in the house of blacksmith Gerrit Kist in Zaandam. He came to Zaandam to learn the trade of ship carpenter. After that the prince left for the V.O.C. yards in Amsterdam. With this short stay, he gave the humble wooden worker’s cottage its name and world fame.
Russian tsars, presidents, Dutch princes and even Napoleon and Empress Sissi, went ahead: they already paid a visit to the Czar Peter’s House. The countless names written and carved in the windows and wooden walls still remind you of that.
The Czar Peter’s house contains a treasure of memories, such as a death mask of Tsar Peter, a bust of Anna Paulowna and portraits of Tsar Peter and Catharina I.
Russian tsars and Dutch princes realized that the Czar Peterhuisje is of invaluable value. In order to protect the wooden house, they had it supported, founded and canoped in the nineteenth century. Both the cottage and the canopy have now been declared National Monuments. Thus, Zaandam owns two monuments in one place, small in pieces but of great historical importance.
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